Second Grade

Paint Stick Solar System Project - this is such a fun way for kids to learn about our solar system and the name of the planets (homeschool, social studies)

Second grade map project ideas to correlate with any elementary social studies map skills lesson plan.

We started our weather unit for science last week. The kids are sooo into it! We have been reading a LOT of nonfiction books about different kinds of weather, and many of my kiddos are checking out weather books in the library to share with the class! Love it!

Make edible amber fossils with your second grader to explore the fascinating world of science!

Building straw bridges is a fun way to strengthen kids’ science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. With just a few simple supplies, they can design a load bearing bridge just like the ones they drive across in cars!

Do you have a problem finding time to focus on Science in the early elementary grades? I find it challenging to find the time for science and as a result have begun merging Science and Reading Information activities along with English Language Development (ELD). In California, the new ELD standards call this Integrated ELD.

As an introduction to physics, children can explore how things move in the world around them. In the experiments that follow, they will investigate how they can change the speed and direction of objects by applying varying degrees of strength. 

Hello, wonderful blog readers! Little break from my Exploring ELA blog series to bring you some Life Cycles ideas for the classroom. 

Yes…yes…we start them early at my school! :) This week, we have been all into plants! We even discussed…dare I say it…reproduction!

Our solar system might fit on this cool coloring page, but in reality it's 3.7 billion miles from the Sun to the dwarf planet Pluto!

When you pass out base ten blocks or linking cubes to Kindergartners for the very first time, what do you expect that they might do?  Chances are, it is inevitable that they will immediately begin building towers, structures, and patterns without being prompted. 

These flash cards serve as an intro to life science, but also help with counting skills and sequential ordering.

I just love these trips to our STEM lab.  This visit, we worked on making a boat. 

Try this experiment to give your curious kid a more "solid" understanding of how temperature affects the states of matter.

For elementary students, meaningful work should be hands-on, engaging, and open ended. Why?! Because children have a natural drive to play, explore, and engineer whenever possible.

We've been busy learning all about force and motion these days. We started off with lots of vocabulary, and then of course the best way to learn about these abstract concepts is by doing some hands-on activities and experiments. Here are a few easy, fun, low prep activities you can do with your class to learn about gravity, friction, force, and simple machines.

This week, my third graders are learning about the solar system. To kick off this unit, I wanted them to know the difference between how the Earth rotates around it's axis versus how the Earch revolves around the sun.

We made a model of the water cycle, which I forgot to photograph {seems to be a bad habit of mine lately!} We discussed each part of the water cycle and illustrated it. Then I found the coolest, easiest idea on Pinterest to show the kids how it rains! They know that the clouds are made of droplets of water, and when the drops get heavy, it begins to rain. So with a glass of water, shaving cream and food coloring we made it rain!!

We were making ice the other day for once of our science projects and Jake asked how the water turns to a solid.